Moderation.txt

May 7, 2025

Moderating Communities is Not a Burden

in light of the fosstodon discourse on the fediverse, fallout, and the subsequent leadership succession, there's a lot of talk of "lessons to be learned" without explicitly saying what those are. i'd like to offer some thoughts on what those lessons might be.

the 32-bit cafe might be on the "newer" side compared to other tech-adjacent organizations, since we started in 2022, but the admin team has been commended repeatedly by its members and folks from marginalized groups with regards to the community's safety and, if i may be so chill, overall vibe. and we've made mistakes! in the early days of the cafe, we didn't make it clear that we were gathering more information before making a final decision. we are now transparent in most, if not all, things we do that affect the community at large.

after moderating and managing communities for 5 years overall, i think i have a pretty good handle on the question: how do you prevent your community from becoming a nazi bar¹?

1. begin your community with a code of conduct

your community should have a code of conduct on day one. how many tech products, services, and communities have been started by folks (typically middle- to upper-class, cisgender white men) who, after running into issues repeatedly, throw their hands up and say, well, i didn't think we'd need a code of conduct!?

spoiler: even if you think you don't need a code of conduct, you do. you especially do if you think you don't need one.

a code of conduct isn't just a list of rules to prevent someone from being kicked out of a community; it sets a tone for what the community expects out of each other as reasonable and accepted social behavior within that group. like in most things, you should plan for the worst and hope for the best.

your code of conduct can change, improve, and lengthen, but you should at least start with a basic one initially.

2. there is no such thing as "no politics"

you may have been asleep or not paying attention, but thanks to the inching, encroaching violation of human rights taking place in multiple areas across the globe, we now live in an undeniable age where entire human identities are inherently political. it is not the fault of the human being who just wants to exist; the fault lies with the culture soldiers who are obsessed with removing or silencing these marginalized groups (hence marginalized).

your ability to separate politics from who you are isn't universal nor is it an option for some folks; it's a privilege to be someone who doesn't have to worry about whether or not your basic human rights are being taken away. it's a privilege to know and feel secure that no slur, no vitriol, has any inherent historical or violent weight to who you are as an individual. there's no slur for open-source developers or apartment renters rooted in historic and prevalent violence; these labels are not who you are as a person facing the world.

the existence of a man who is trans is inherently political. a developer's existence is not.

3. intolerance must be dealt with swiftly

good communities will not be for everyone, because not everyone is a good fit for your community. you have to be exclusionary to those who take advantage of the inclusivity of your community.

it is not enough for folks to be able to "agree to disagree." there is no "thicker skin" to be had if your community is inherently unsafe thanks to moderation decisions that benefit people who are taking advantage of the systems in place. if you, as a community manager, are not controlling the vibe and overall message that is being sent by your community in interactions with others, you are failing.

if someone is not adhering to the vibes you've set, even if they're not breaking the "letter of the law," they should be removed from your community. if they are making your life harder by constantly challenging your code of conduct, they should be removed from your community. if they are skirting by the rules in order to get out of trouble, they should be removed from your community.

being part of an online community is not a constitutionally protected activity. you are not owed a spot in a community because you are there. it is a party (or, to recall, a bar) that you are invited to. maybe you heard about the party some other way and didn't get explicitly invited, but it's still a party someone else is throwing.

i sometimes see admins get tripped up by active members early in their community who are essentially poisoning the well. just keeping one person (or two) around so you have an active memberbase is never a good thing. your other members will choose to spend their time elsewhere that they feel safer or overall better.

growing your community at the cost of safety of your members will only put you on the autobahn to a dead community. member numbers are never more important than how people feel in your space. do not let antisocial actors ruin your social space by entrenching themselves in your community while working against everything you were trying to do by setting up the community in the first place.

4. explicitly state your community's positions

now that there are "inclusive" communities that operate under the guise of "free speech advocacy," it has become imperative that communities that are open and inclusive state what their positions are upfront to prospective and current members. not mentioning this has become somewhat of a dog-whistle in upholding "free speech," which has often just meant that hate speech, harassment, and slurs, are fine to use on that platform or in that community.

doing so—being upfront—is not just a statement of what community members can expect or a way to ward off unwanted behavior; it is a reassurance to those who need it that the space they are devoting their time to is welcoming to them.

moderators or community leaders who act as though this is conceding something or not a net-positive are suspicious to me when i'm looking at communities, because why wouldn't you? if your community is interacting with others outside of the community, what do you have to hide?

5. cancel culture isn't a thing, stop it

it's cringe. seeing a bunch of gen x or millennial developers lament "cancel culture" while logging off, going to their six-figure tech job, and living an ultimately private life is embarrassing. calling community owners out on their shit isn't being canceled—please learn accountability.

your time on this earth is the only finite resource you have. everything else can be regenerated. time is the only thing you cannot get back. if you expect others to spend time in a community that you've built, you need to make sure you're open to feedback, listening to your community, and standing on your values.

this doesn't mean letting everyone steer the ship. it means being open to compromise, taking in and actually reflecting on what people are saying, and, ultimately, making issues raised by the community about the issues rather than yourself.

when community owners or moderators attempt to turn the public lens toward themselves, crying harassment when their community is demanding answers, it's a huge red flag and a sign the members should get out as soon as possible. when you run a community, especially one with a goal or project, you have a responsibility to provide answers to the people who are spending their time making your community what it is.

6. root out toxicity

the moment something becomes a big deal, it is a big deal. it is no longer just "drama" or "gossip." to the people it matters to, it matters a great deal, and if you had those people in your community, the onus is on you to fix what you should've built from the beginning.

allowing toxic behavior to foster in your community will only compound with time, even if it's staff or folks volunteering their time.

the moment a moderator is outed as having hateful beliefs, the moderator should be removed. the first time you see something heinous, that is evidence enough. there is no room for disagreement of opinions if it cannot be debated without denying the humanity of the person at the end of it.

if your beliefs or opinions involve:

• the right of someone to exist
• the right of someone to be safe from violence
• the right of someone to make decisions about their body/life
• inequality under the rule of law
• denying lived experiences

there is no debate there. this is what we have collectively agreed as humans to be basic human rights that everyone is entitled to. the reason why we uphold them is because these continue to prove true, in the moments in which we decide to indulge these in debate, during some of the darkest times in human history. it is our worst of times when we reject others' human rights, even casually, normalizing it.

if you deny someone's personhood, the right of a human being, you are not merely sharing an opinion. you are, at that point, being harmful.

whenever i'm considering issues in our community, i focus on impact over intent. what is the impact of this statement i'll release? what is the impact of a policy or removal of this person?

conclusion

moderating is not a burden. i am happy to make spaces safe for those who want it to be safe. i am thrilled to be the person who asks a neo-nazi to leave. i am totally fine removing someone for something they feel like isn't ban-worthy. i just don't care. it is our space.

i knew that when i created a community, i would be responsible for curating the vibe and tone of our community. i am beholden to the people who productively use our space, contribute to our community, and spend their limited time on this earth with us. i'm not holding myself to valuing the community status of someone who is expressing antisocial behavior in an inherently social space.

listen, if you want to create a nazi bar, by all means, go ahead. but just entertain them to begin with, stop pretending to be like the rest of us, and leave us alone, alright?

#internet